The Author or Contributor you are trying to view is no longer active.
You may be able to find the Author or Contributor you are searching for by browsing this page or by
using the search function at the top right of the website.

Each of these writers is the primary author/editor/director of a project in World Wisdom’s Library of Perennial Philosophy.
Our Contributors' page contains summaries of individuals who have contributed essays or interviews to our projects;
readers may also go directly to individual contributors’ biographies:

One of the most important thinkers and writers of the Perennialist/Traditionalist school of comparative religion was Titus Burckhardt (1908-1984). Burkhardt was not just a metaphysician, but also an authority on traditional cosmology, sacred art and crafts, the conflicts between traditional and modern sciences, history, political science, and on various other aspects of traditional civilizations. Burckhardt was also a translator (from Arabic into French), an editor and publisher, and a respected consultant on restoring traditional cities to their former beautiful states. World Wisdom has five books by Titus Burckhardt, some of which are new editions of classic works, and a compilation of Burckhardt's representative writings,The Essential Titus Burckhardt: Reflections on Sacred Art, Faiths and Civilizations (edited by William Stoddart). Click here to see a list of Burckhardt's books offered by World Wisdom, as well as a list of his many articles found in a number of our anthologies.

Sri Anandamayi Ma (1896-1982) was one of the great Hindu saints of the 20th century. She was born in present-day Bangladesh. As a person of remarkable piety, sanctity, and wisdom, she came to the notice of both simple people and famous figures of India. During her long life, Anandamayi Ma traveled a great deal and assisted in the building or establishment of numerous ashrams and places of worship. Although born into a family that worshiped Vishnu, she became a devotee of Shiva. Her beatific presence and words of wisdom won her many followers and spread her renown. Many of Anandamayi Ma's sayings were written down and recorded in books.

The Essential Sri Anandamayi Ma is a concise and sensitive biography of Anandamayi Ma with important selections from her oral teachings, and many beautiful photos.

Amadou Hampâté Bâ (c. 1900-1991) was a well-known Malian diplomat and author of the last half of the twentieth century. His fiction and non-fiction books in French are widely respected as sources of information and insight on West African history, religion, literature and culture, and life.

From the time of his youth, Mr. Bâ was a student and disciple of an extraordinary Malian Sufi master, Tierno Bokar. Shaykh Bokar has become known as "the sage of Bandiagara," the town in Mali where he lived for most of his life. Tierno Bokar was remarkable for his universalist attitudes and tolerance towards orthodox religions, for his parables and aphorisms, for his teaching methods, for the trials of his difficult life, and, finally, for the love and light that seemed to emanate from his person. All of this is known to us thanks to Amadou Hampâté Bâ's testimonial to his teacher, Vie et enseignement de Tierno Bokar: Le sage de Bandiagara, which has finally been translated into English and published by World Wisdom as A Spirit of Tolerance: The Inspiring Life of Tierno Bokar.

Shaykh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi is a Sufi master of the Halveti-Jerrahi order. He has also translated, edited, and written numerous books on Islamic spirituality. Among his books are The Name and the Named: The Divine Attributes of God, What the Seeker Needs: Essays on Spiritual Practice, Oneness, Majesty and Beauty (by Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi), The Secret of Secrets (by Hadrat Abdul Qadir Al-Jilani), and Divine Governance of the Human Kingdom (by Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi).

Samuel Bendeck Sotillos is a Board Affiliate of the Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP), an Advisor to the Institute of Traditional Psychology, and has worked for several years in the field of mental health, covering a broad spectrum of disorders in various psychiatric settings. He has published in numerous journals, including Sacred Web, Sophia, Parabola, Resurgence, Temenos Academy Review, and Studies in Comparative Religion.

Samuel Bendeck Sotillos is the editor of the forthcoming Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy: Studies in Comparative Religion volume.

D. Yael Bernhard is a busy writer and illustrator of books on many subjects, primarily for children. She has illustrated the Wisdom Tales book Never Say a Mean Word Again, which was written by Jacqueline Jules. Another book featuring Ms. Bernhard’s sense of color, design, fun, and different places and times is The Dreidel That Wouldn’t Spin: A Toyshop Tale of Hanukkah, written by Martha Seif Simpson. D. Yael Bernhard is now working on another book for Wisdom Tales that she has also written (in verse) as well as illustrated. It is about the sense of wonder and adventure a child would experience climbing some exotic trees of the world.

The author of more than thirty books and numerous articles on philosophy, comparative religion, poetry and travel, Jean Biès is former professor of Greek Literature and the University of Pau, France. A Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor and recipient of the High Prize of the Society of French Poets, since 1962 he and his wife have lived in a country home “Saint Michel la Grange” at the foot of the Pyrennees.

Imam Birgivi was an Ottoman Muslim scholar and moralist who was born in 1522. (His name at birth was Muhammad ibn Pir Ali.) His book on Islamic morals and ethics, now published for the first time in English as The Path of Muhammad, has been influential throughout the Muslim world, where it is still being used as a text in important faculties of theology and in universities. Imam Birgivi was a theologian, an expert in Islamic law, and a dervish in the Bayramiyyah order. Through the 27books that he wrote and his prominence as a teacher, Imam Birgivi became very well known during his lifetime. Imam Birgivi's ideal was an Islamic society such as it was at the time of the Prophet Muhammad, a model he felt was ageless and valid for all times.

Alfred Bloom is one of the world's foremost authorities on the study of Shin Buddhism. He taught World Religions and Buddhism at the University of Oregon and the University of Hawaii and has written many books and articles on Shin Buddhism and spirituality in general. Prof. Bloom was Dean at the Institute of Buddhist Studies, sponsored by the Buddhist Churches of America. He is an ordained Shin priest. About Dr. Bloom, the well-known Buddhist magazine Tricycle: The Buddhist Review has said: “Bloom is widely regarded as one of the most important American figures of the past five decades in the Jodo Shin school of Buddhism.”

Ahmed Bouyerdene was born in Algeria in 1967, but emigrated with his family to France when he was five; he has both Algerian and French nationality. Dr. Bouyerdene is an independent researcher in history and a specialist on the great Algerian leader Emir Abd el-Kader. Bouyerdene completed his PhD on the life of Abd el-Kader at the Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, France, and has since published several books and articles on the Emir in his native French, including Abd el-Kader, l’harmonie des contraires (le Seuil, 2008, 2012) and Abd el-Kader par ses contemporains (Ibis Press, 2008). Ahmed Bouyerdene has also attended conferences around the world to present papers on the intellectual and spiritual qualities of the Emir, and has been a consultant on various media projects on the Emir. The World Wisdom book Emir Abd el-Kader: Hero and Saint of Islam is his first work to be translated into English. Dr. Ahmed Bouyerdene lives in southern France.

Isabelle Brent is an internationally known painter and illustrator who has illustrated more than two dozen children’s books, many of which are of traditional fairy tales or stories from the Bible. She has worked on two books for Wisdom Tales Press. Ms. Brent’s most recent book for WTP is The Christmas Horse and the Three Wise Men (available October 2016), which she wrote and illustrated. It follows the familiar Bible story, but is told from the point of view of the horse of one of the wise men. Isabelle Brent’s first book for us, which she illustrated, was Saint Anthony the Great, a children’s biography of an important figure in the early Christian faith. Saint Anthony the Great was written by Rev. John Chryssavgis and Marilyn Rouvelas.

The late Joseph Epes Brown was a professor of Religious Studies at the University of Montana. A renowned author in the fields of American Indian traditions and World Religions, Brown was one of the founders of Native American Studies and was largely responsible for bringing the study of these religious traditions into American higher education. His publications include The Sacred Pipe (1953), his famous recounting of the sacred rites of the Oglala Sioux.

Joseph Bruchac is a well-known Native author and storyteller who has written more than 120 books for both children and adults. His work is heavily influenced by his Abenaki ancestry, and he has worked extensively with other family members on projects involving the preservation of Abenaki culture and language. (The Abenaki are a tribe of traditionally Algonquian-speaking peoples of northeastern North America.) Dr. Joseph Bruchac has contributed a retelling of a traditional story in The Hunter’s Promise: An Abenaki Tale (coming in September, 2015), which is illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. Dr. Bruchac also contributed the “Foreword” to the book Horse Raid: The Making of a Warrior, told and illustrated by Paul Goble.

Titus Burckhardt (1908-1984) was one of the leading perennialist writers of the twentieth century. His writings showed remarkable scope. Burckhardt wrote on pure metaphysics, on tradition and modern science, on sacred art, on history and political science, and on various other aspects of traditional civilizations. Burckhardt was also a translator (from Arabic into French), an editor and publisher, and a respected consultant on restoring traditional cities to their former beautiful states. World Wisdom has published the following books by Burckhardt:

Helen Cann’s illustrations have graced the pages of almost thirty books. Her first book for Wisdom Tales is Feathers for Peacock, a beautiful, lively, and humorous story from the imagination of author Jacqueline Jules. It tells the tale of how Peacock, and all the other birds, got their feathers, but why Peacock’s are more spectacular than all the others. Ms. Cann's paintings bring personality to the many different birds, and even to the rather jolly and kind-hearted moon!

Mrs. Casey has been with World Wisdom since 1981, and in her capacity as editor she had the opportunity to meet frequently with Frithjof Schuon for the publication of many of his books in English translation. Her current responsibilities involve working with other translators and editors on the translation and cataloging of Schuon's correspondence and unpublished papers for the future use of interested readers and scholars.

Mrs. Casey is the editor of Light on the Ancient Worlds, published by World Wisdom. Light on the Ancient Worlds is the first in a new series of Frithjof Schuon's classical works which have been extensively revised and updated.

Jennifer Casey is an independent film maker and director who has traveled extensively throughout the Plain Indians reservations. A former teacher, Mrs. Casey has met with numerous tribal leaders and Sun Dance chiefs.

Patrick Casey served as an aide and secretary to Frithjof Schuon for over 20 years. After earning a degree in Religious Studies from Indiana University in 1975, Casey traveled to Switzerland to meet Schuon for the first time. In the early 1980s, after Schuon had moved to America, Casey approached him with the idea of collecting the letters he had sent over the years to correspondents in America, England, Germany, Switzerland, and elsewhere. With Schuon’s approval, Casey began a process that resulted in the collection of more than 1,500 letters; many of these have since been published in various works, while some appear for the first time in the Appendix to Frithjof Schuon's Echoes of Perennial Wisdom: A New Translation with Selected Letters, edited by Patrick Casey.

William C. Chittick is one of the most important contemporary translators and interpreters of Islamic mystical texts and poetry. He is a professor in the Department of Comparative Studies at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. Among his publications are The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi (1983), The Psalms of Islam (1988), The Self-Disclosure of God: Principles of Ibn al-`Arabî's Cosmology (1998), Sufism: A Short Introduction (2000), and The Heart of Islamic Philosophy: The Quest for Self-Knowledge in the Teachings of Afdal al-Dîn Kâshânî (2001). World Wisdom titles featuring Dr. Chittick:

The Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis is a Greek Orthodox clergyman, author, educator, and theologian. He is currently Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Reverend Archdeacon has specialized in, among other areas, the study of the early Church Fathers and Mothers, theology and environmental issues, and inter-faith matters. The Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis is the author of twenty books and numerous articles in several languages on the Church Fathers and Orthodox Spirituality. He has contributed to several collections published by World Wisdom and is the author of the award-winning book In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, Revised. He is also co-author (with Marilyn Rouvelas) of an illustrated children's book, Saint Anthony the Great.

F. Clive-Ross was the founder, publisher and editor of the journal Studies in Comparative Religion and its predecessor Tomorrow. For nearly 20 years under Clive-Ross’ guidance, Studies was one of the predominant platforms for discussion of all issues to pertaining to comparative religious studies. Clive-Ross also founded the publishing house, Perennial Books Ltd, and was a trustee of the “World of Islam Festival”. He died in 1981.

World Wisdom has proudly sponsored a new beginning for Studies. All of the original issues are being placed on a custom website: www.studiesincomparativereligion.com. Mr. Clive-Ross's editorials appear in the compilations of Studies in Comparative Religion issues published by World Wisdom:

Winfield Coleman is an illustrator and painter, writer and editor, lecturer, and ethnological researcher who has worked on books, museum catalogs, and research materials on native peoples and their art for many years. For Wisdom Tales, Mr. Coleman has illustrated The Thunder Egg, a Native American story about a girl who discovers the egg of a thunderbird. The text is by Tim J. Myers. Mr. Coleman has specialized, above all, in the art of American Indian peoples. He always devotes a great deal of time to assuring the historical accuracy of his illustrations, as his beautiful paintings for Thunder Egg certainly demonstrate.

Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy was a multi-talented researcher, scientist, linguist, expert on culture and art, philosopher, museum curator, and author. He was the first well-known author of the modern era to expound the importance of traditional arts, culture, and thought as more than simply relics of a bygone past. Dr. Coomaraswamy is often credited with reintroducing the concept of the "Perennial Philosophy" to a West dazed by the endless multiplicity of the modern world.

Dr. Rama P. Coomaraswamy (1929-2006), son of the renowned perennialist writer Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, was in his own right an important writer on traditionalist topics, especially regarding Christianity and the influx of modernistic ideas and practices in this ancient apostolic tradition.

Dr. Coomaraswamy wrote what to our knowledge is the most detailed study of the modern changes to the Catholic rites and doctrines. This unrelenting analysis of the errors of modern insertions into Catholic tradition was originally published in 1972 but recently updated in a new edition in The Destruction of the Christian Tradition: Updated and Revised. He also collaborated with World Wisdom as the editor of The Essential Ananda K. Coomaraswamy; in addition, several of his important essays on Christianity, and Tradition, have been included in other World Wisdom collections.

Informed by the perspective of the Perennial Philosophy, J. C. Cooper wrote and lectured extensively on the subjects of philosophy, comparative religion, and symbolism. She was the author of a wide range of books on spiritual topics, including Taoism, the Way of the Mystic, Yin and Yang, and Symbolism, the Universal Language, but is perhaps best known for her classic reference work: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols.

Born in 1868 near Whitewater, Wisconsin, Edward Sheriff Curtis became one of America’s finest photographers and ethnologists. Beginning in 1907, he began the publishing of his epic masterpiece, The North American Indian. Upon its completion in 1930, Curtis’ opus, entitled The North American Indian, consisted of 20 volumes, each containing 75 hand-pressed photogravures and 300 pages of text. Each volume was accompanied by a corresponding portfolio containing at least 36 photogravures.

James S. Cutsinger is an author, editor, and teacher whose writings focus primarily on Perennialism and the theology and spirituality of the Christian East. He is professor of Theology and Religious Thought at the University of South Carolina. Prof. Cutsinger has edited a series of new editions of books by Frithjof Schuon (click here to see the list of books). His other contributions to World Wisdom's books include:

Demi is an award-winning children's book author and illustrator. She has published over 130 books during her career. Born in Cambridge, MA, she studied art at the Instituto Allende, Mexico; with Sister Corita at the Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles; and was a Fulbright scholar at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India where she received her Master’s degree. Well known for her biographies of pivotal historical and spiritual figures such as Buddha, Krishna, Lao Tzu, Jesus, Mary, Muhammad, Rumi, Saint Francis, Gandhi, and the Dalai Lama, her book The Empty Pot was selected by former First Lady Barbara Bush in 1990 as one of the books to be read on the ABC Radio Network Program Mrs. Bush’s Story Time, sponsored by the Children's Literacy Initiative.

Frances Theresa Densmore was born in 1867 in Red Wing, Minnesota and spent nearly 60 years working for the Smithsonian Institution’s Bureau of American Ethnology. She visited some 35 American Indian tribes, recorded more than 2,500 songs, collected hundreds of artifacts, and transcribed a wealth of first-person narrations. Densmore died in her hometown in 1957. Her work remains highly valued by scholars and by many members of the first nations she studied. One of her studies has been abridged and illustrations added by editor Joseph A. Fitzgerald in the World Wisdom edition World of the Teton Sioux Indians: Their Music, Life, and Culture (September 2016), which includes a Foreword by Charles Trimble.

Eliot Deutsch is an eminent philosopher, teacher, and writer. He has made important contributions to the understanding and appreciation of Eastern philosophies in the West through his many works on comparative philosophy and comparative aesthetics. Deutsch is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy, University of Hawaii.

Born in 1905, Heinrich Dumoulin was one of the world's foremost Zen scholars. Works previously translated into English include Buddhism in the Modern World, Zen Enlightenment, Zen Buddhism: A History; Volume 1 India and China and Zen Buddhism: A History; Volume 2 Japan.

Ohiyesa, also known as Charles Alexander Eastman, was the first great American Indian author, publishing 11 books from 1902 until 1918. In his later adult life he was the foremost Indian spokesman of his day and his contributions to our understanding of the American Indian philosophy and religion are so significant that at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, Ohiyesa was presented a special medal honoring the most distinguished achievements by an American Indian.

Claire Ewart is a well known illustrator and author of books for children. She has illustrated books for famous authors such as Paul Fleischman (Time Train) and Tomie dePaola (The Legend of the Persian Carpet), who said of her abilities as an illustrator, “No author could ask for a more talented interpreter.” Ms. Ewart has also written and illustrated several books of her own, including One Cold Night, The Giant, and Fossil. Her rich and detailed watercolor illustrations are not only a visual treat, but, just as important, each one captures the essence of the story.

World Wisdom welcomes Claire Ewart to our list of illustrators for the Wisdom Tales Press (our children’s book imprint) book The Olive Tree, written by Elsa Marston and illustrated by Ms. Ewart. The Olive Tree is a moving story of two children from a country recovering from a war. The children are different in many ways but both share an attachment to an old olive tree growing across both of their yards.

Bill Farnsworth is a nationally known illustrator, painter, and educator of art. He has spent the last thirty years creating paintings for magazines, advertisements, children’s books, and fine art commissions of portraits and landscapes. For Wisdom Tales, Bill has illustrated the book The Hunter’s Promise: An Abenaki Tale (available in September, 2015), which is written (retold) by the Abenaki author, educator, and storyteller Joseph Bruchac.
The Hunter’s Promise: An Abenaki Tale (coming in September, 2015) for Wisdom Tales. The Hunter’s Promise, written by Joseph Bruchac, is a retelling of an Abenaki (a northeastern American Indian tribe) story of a hunter who battles magical forces in order to return to his true family. Bill Farnsworth's paintings and illustrations are recognizable for their beautiful colors, careful attention to various types of light, detailed rendering, and often for their outdoor themes and settings. His paintings convey the power of nature in one way or another, and this will certainly make for a perfect complement to Joseph Bruchac’s tale set in the deep forests of the Northeast.

Joseph Fitzgerald has authored or edited several books on diverse world religions and philosophy that have won more than ten awards, including the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Award. The subjects include Buddhism, Hinduism, the American Indians, Christianity, the ecological crisis and the Perennial Philosophy. Fitzgerald studied Comparative Religion at Indiana University, where he also earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree. He is an adopted grandson of Thomas Yellowtail, one of the most honored American Indian spiritual leaders of the last century. For more than thirty years, Joseph has traveled extensively throughout the American Indian, Oriental and Islamic worlds. He has edited the following books for World Wisdom:

Judith Fitzgerald is a graduate of Indiana University and an artisan, calligrapher, and graphic designer. In 2004 Fitzgerald and her husband, Michael, published the first in an award-winning series of illustrated inspirational books on the world’s religions, called “Sacred Worlds.” The books in this series have received ten prestigious awards. Many of the photographs in this series and in her husband’s other books were taken by her during their travels to visit traditional cultures around the world.

The books that Judith Fitzgerald has edited, and designed, along with her husband Michael Fitzgerald are:

Michael Fitzgerald is an author, editor, and publisher of books on world religions, sacred art, tradition, culture, and philosophy. He has written and edited many publications on American Indian spirituality, including Yellowtail: Crow Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief, and was adopted into Yellowtail's tribe and family. Fitzgerald has also taught university classes on religious traditions of North American Indians and lectured widely. His contributions to World Wisdom books and DVDs include:

Frederick Franck was a man of many talents: surgeon, philosopher, author, translator, artist, and, above all, activist for peace and humanity and critic of modern barbarisms. Internationally acclaimed for his many accomplishments, Dr. Franck blended art and spirituality into all that he produced, helping people see the humanity in others and God's Spirit in its many manifestations in the world. His classic book The Buddha Eye was reissued by World Wisdom, with some new additions, in 2004. He was also the editor of The Messenger of the Heart, a beautiful book featuring poems of Angelus Silesius, complemened by Franck's own drawings and select sayings of Zen masters.

Éric Geoffroy is a scholar, translator, educator, and writer who is Professor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Strasbourg, France. He also teaches at the Open University of Catalonia, at the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium), and at the International Institute of Islamic Thought (Paris). Dr. Geoffroy specializes in Islam and its mystical dimension, Sufism, often focusing on aspects of sainthood. Among others areas, his research also extends to comparative mysticism, and to issues of spirituality in the contemporary world (e.g. spirituality and globalization; spirituality and ecology, etc.). In addition, he is a member of an international research group on Science and Religion in Islam, through the Université Interdisciplinaire of Paris.

Paul Goble is an award-winning author and illustrator of over 30 children's books. Goble's life-long fascination with Native Americans of the plains began during his childhood when he became intrigued with their spirituality and culture. His illustrations accurately depict Native American clothing, customs and surroundings in brilliant color and detail. Goble researches ancient stories and retells them for his young audience in a manner sympathetic to Native American ways. Mr. Goble has authored or contributed to the following World Wisdom titles:

John Griffin is a writer with experience in the areas of Environmental Studies and Environmental Philosophy. His book, On the Origin of Beauty, is an adaptation of his dissertation (which won the Dean’s Prize for 2007). He has travelled widely, seeking out places where traditional ways of life are still to be found, in such countries as India, Morocco and Turkey. He currently lives on a small farm in the hills of northern Portugal, engaged in rehabilitating old stone-walled terraces, tending an organic vegetable garden and orchard, and devoting any spare time to writing.

George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938) was a historian, naturalist, explorer, sportsman, and conservationist. He wrote several landmark books on the Pawnee, Blackfoot and Cheyenne peoples, having lived with and befriended the last generation to have known the glorious freedom of the buffalo days. His work is the focus of the fully illustrated title The Cheyenne Indians, which features over 100 photos and illustrations.

René Guénon (1886-1951) was a French metaphysician, writer, and editor who was largely responsible for laying the metaphysical groundwork for the Traditionalist or Perennialist school of thought in the early twentieth century. Guénon remains influential today for his writings on the intellectual and spiritual bankruptcy of the modern world, on symbolism, on spiritual esoterism and initiation, and on the universal truths that manifest themselves in various forms in the world’s religious traditions.

Ishwar Harris is a professor of religion specializing in Eastern Religions, an expert on India’s culture and civilization, an author of books and articles, and a musician. Prof. Harris has devoted his career to studying Eastern religions, particularly Zen Buddhism. He currently teaches at the College of Wooster in Ohio. Prof. Harris has had extensive contact with Keido Fukushima, head abbot of the famous Tofukuji Monastery in Kyoto, and has written a book about him, The Laughing Buddha Of Tofukuji: The Life Of Zen Master Keido Fukushima , published by World Wisdom.

Gerald Hausman is a writer, editor, teacher, folklorist, and storyteller. His many books focus particularly on Native American themes and animal mythology, among other topics. Hausman's work has earned him many honors and awards, and he has also appeared on television and radio programs. He also writes an award-winning column, "Pine Island Soundings" about life on a barrier island. Gerald Hausman’s most recent contribution to World Wisdom is as the author of The Otter, the Spotted Frog & the Great Flood: A Creek Indian Story, which was illustrated by Ramon Shiloh. The Otter, the Spotted Frog & the Great Flood is in our Wisdom Tales series of children's books.

Along with co-editor Bob Kapoun, Hausman also edited The Image Taker: The Selected Stories and
Photographs of Edward S. Curtis, which features nearly 200 rarely seen photographs from Edward S. Curtis’ masterpiece, The North American Indian. The book combines the history and the stories from 26 tribes and transports the reader to a now-lost age.

Hônen is the twelfth-century patriarch of Japanese Amidism, or the School of the Pure Land (Jôdo-Shû). His focus on the practice of nembutsu, or invocation of the Name of Amida, gave rise to the most popular form of Buddhism in Japan through the work of his disciple Shinran and the School of True Pure Land (Jôdo-Shin-Shû). His teachings are the focus of Honen The Buddhist Saint: Essential Writings And Official Biography (World Wisdom, 2006). Hônen's writing, "The buddha of boundless light & taking refuge in the right practice" is included in Pray Without Ceasing .

Tze-si “Jesse” Huang is a professional translator and native Chinese. He was born in Chungking, China, the youngest of ten children. At a young age, Jesse stowed away on a freighter going to Hong Kong and Taiwan, where he stayed and prayed with the monks at various Buddhist temples. He eventually immigrated to the US, attending New York University and Columbia University for postgraduate studies. In 1975, he met his wife, the children's book author and illustrator, Demi. In the United States he worked as a financial analyst and manager in several US companies while continuing to pursue his love of translating from his native Chinese into English.

William J. Jackson is Professor Emeritus at IUPUI, where he taught courses in Comparative Religion in the Department of Religious Studies for 25 years. He served as the first Lake Scholar at the Lake Family Institute on Faith and Giving, Philanthropic Studies Center, IUPUI, from 2005 to 2008, and published The Wisdom of Generosity: A Reader in American Philanthropy (2008). He has published several books about South Indian religious culture, including Tyagaraja—Life and Lyrics, and Songs of Three Great South Indian Saints, and Vijayanagara Visions (all published by Oxford University Press). He is also the author of a book entitled Heaven’s Fractal Net: Retrieving Lost Visions in the Humanities (2008), about the symbolic meanings of fractal-like geometrical patterns found in the world’s cultures. He is currently working on a book exploring the “cultural DNA of America,” the deep stories, symbols, emblems, values and aspirations which have been formative and influential in American life.

Kim Jacobs is an artist and author with a number of children’s books already to her name. She has added the glowing illustrations to the festive new fairytale book Princess Rosie’s Rainbows, written by Bette Killion. Princess Rosie’s Rainbows was published by Wisdom Tales (an imprint of World Wisdom) in October, 2015.

Sri Swaminathan (born at Villipuram on May 20, 1894) was taken to Kalavai in his 13th year, when he was studying at Tindivanam, to be initiated into ascetic order and ordained as the 68th Acharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt. He was given the sanyasa name Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati.

He was affectionately called "Mahaswamigal" and "Walking God". His foremost concern was preservation of the Vedas, tradition and dharma. He advocated simplicity, shunned pomp, ostentation and extravagance. His exposition of Vedanta, sastras, and the dharmic duties attracted scholars and laymen alike, from far and wide.

Dr. Manoj Jain is a physician and widely published writer on both medical and faith-based subjects. Dr. Jain is the author of the Wisdom Tales book Mahavira: The Hero of Nonviolence, which will be published in July, 2014. It is a powerful but simple narrative of the life of Mahavira. Mahavira was a great spiritual figure who lived six centuries before the birth of Jesus in India. He was a great spiritual teacher (the name “Mahavira” means “very brave”) who imagined a world without violence and made the practice of nonviolence, compassion, and forgiveness central points of the religion he would found: Jainism. Dr. Jain’s book is a very good introduction through words, and the paintings of Demi, to an important religious figure whose remarkable life if little known in the West.

Christopher James, the 5th Lord Northbourne, is the son of the late Walter James, the 4th Lord Northbourne. The current Lord Northbourne is a British farmer and businessman. He was educated at Eton College in Berkshire and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with a Master of Arts in 1959.

Jacqueline Jules is a prolific writer of children’s books, a poet, a teacher, and a librarian. Her literary output is impressive: She has written over 20 books for children, including her Zapato Power series and several that have won awards. Ms. Jules’s sensitivity to themes that engage children is evident in her choice of topics such as being away at camp, being at a new school and unable to communicate in English, being from a different culture in America, and so on. Her skill at retelling religious stories comes through in her series of bible stories. Jacqueline Jules’s has contributed two books to our Wisdom Tales imprint. The first was the multi-award-winning Never Say a Mean Word Again: A Tale from Medieval Spain, which was illustrated by Durga Yael Bernhard. Ms. Jules’s most recent contribution is Feathers for Peacock, beautifully illustrated by Helen Cann.

Born in 1915 in Kyoto, Kenryo Kanamatsu took his B.A. in Philosophy at Otani University. Following study under a Fulbright scholarship at Cornell and the University of Chicago, he received his doctorate and was a Professor at Otani University. In addition to Naturalness , Dr. Kanamatsu translated the works of Plato into Japanese and wrote a book on Plato's Theology and Cosmology which has not been translated into English. He was a lifelong devotee of Shin Buddhism.

Bob Kapoun is an important collector and dealer of Edward S. Curtis photographs in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He collaborated, with Gerald Hausman, on the book The Image Taker: The Selected Stories and Photographs of Edward S. Curtis, employing his extensive knowledge of Curtis' work with American Indian tribes during the first decades of the twentieth century.

Mr. Kapoun is also known for his knowledge of the history and identification of the American trade blanket, a significant cultural artifact of past centuries and of the contact between the white and Indian worlds. His illustrated book Language of the Robe (Peregine Smith Books, Salt Lake City, 1992), written with Charles Lohrmann, examines the American trade blanket.

Brian Keeble is a writer and editor who has long been devoted to the promulgation of the traditional arts. His best-known book is Art: For Whom and For What? Mr. Keeble is the founder of Golgonooza Press and a co-founder of Temenos Academy, which is sponsored by The Prince's Foundation of HRH The Prince of Wales. The Temenos Academy is a teaching organization dedicated to the same central idea that had inspired the earlier Temenos Review, a journal devoted to the arts of the imagination.

Bette Killion is a writer of poems, stories, and articles for children. Her most recent book with Wisdom Tales Press (our children's imprint) is Little Lek Longtail Learns to Sleep, which was illustrated by Beatriz Vidal. Little Lek Longtail was an award-winning Finalist in the 2016 USA “Best Book” Awards. Earlier, Ms. Killion wrote Princess Rosie’s Rainbows, which was published by Wisdom Tales in October, 2015. The book is illustrated in glorious colors by the talented illustrator Kim Jabobs.

Ms. Killion has had 800 children’s poems, stories and articles published in well-known juvenile magazines such as Jack and Jill, Highlights, Ranger Rick, Turtle,Hopscotch, several Cricket Magazine Group publications. Her picture books include The Apartment House Tree, Think of It, Just Think, and The Same Wind,all of which were published by HarperCollins. She is also known for her rewriting of several classic fairy tales, such as Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and others.

Hans Küry (1906-1987) was a professional writer, editor, and translator who specialized in the works of Shakespeare. Dr. Küry authored six books and several articles in his native German on a range of literary, religious, and philosophical subjects. World Wisdom is publishing Death as Gateway to Eternity: Nature’s Hidden Message, the first book by Hans Küry to be translated into English. The book is a series of connected spiritual reflections on the reality and meaning of death to human beings. Death as Gateway to Eternity, by Dr. Hans Küry, will be published in 2013.

Jean-Pierre LaFouge is Associate Professor of French at Marquette University. His academic career took him to the United States where he obtained a Ph.D. in French literature, specializing in nineteenth and seventeen century French and Orientalist Literature. He is the author of several articles dealing with the relationship between art, Orientalism, philosophy and literature. Jean-Pierre LaFouge has also published a book on Eugène Fromentin and is presently assisting in the revision of French to English translations of the writings of Frithjof Schuon. He is also the editor of For God’s Greater Glory: Gems Of Jesuit Spirituality .

M. Ali Lakhani graduated from Cambridge University before moving to Vancouver where he has practiced as a trial lawyer for 25 years. In 1998, he founded the traditionalist journal, Sacred Web, with the aim of identifying the first principles of traditional metaphysics and promoting their application to the contingent circumstances of modernity. The bi-annual journal has included contributions by many leading traditionalists. In the words of Professor Nasr, "Along with Sophia, Sacred Web is the most important journal in the English language devoted to the study of tradition."

Patrick Laude is a writer, editor, professor, and researcher in the fields of language, literature, symbolism, and mysticism. He is a professor at Georgetown University, currently at their School of Foreign Service in Qatar. Laude's writings have been published in the US and Europe in numerous journals. Dr. Laude's extensive contributions to World Wisdom include:

Leonard Lewisohn is a scholar and author who specializes in classical Persian and Sufi literature. He is Senior Lecturer in Persian at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, UK. Dr. Lewisohn is the editor of the upcoming World Wisdom volume (December 2014), The Philosophy of Ecstasy: Rumi and the Sufi Tradition, a groundbreaking collection of 13 essays on Rumi by many of the world’s leading authorities in the fields of Islamic Studies and Persian Literature, in which they explore the major religious themes in Rumi’s poetry and teachings.

Martin Lings (1909-2005) was a leading member of the “Traditionalist” or “Perennialist” school and an acclaimed author, editor, translator, scholar, Arabist, and poet whose work centers on the relationship between God and man through religious doctrine, scripture, symbolism, literature, and art. He was an accomplished metaphysician and essayist who often turned to the world’s great spiritual traditions for examples, though he is probably best known for his writings on Islam and its esoteric tradition, Sufism.

Dr. Lings co-edited The Underlying Religion (2007) with Clinton Minnar. This book is a survey of central perennialist ideas and authors. Dr Lings contributed the following essays to various World Wisdom books:

“The Past in the Light of the Present & The Rhythms of Time”, “The Decisive Boundary”, “The Symbol”, and “The Spirit of the Times”, as well as a preface, to The Underlying Religion

Dr. Alexander Lipski (1919-09), was Professor of History and Religious Studies from 1958 to 1984 at California State University, Long Beach. Dr. Lipski wrote several books on some major religious figures, Thomas Merton and Asia: His Quest for Utopia, Essays on Carmelite Saints, and Life and Teaching of Sri Anandamayi Ma. He also edited the collection Bengal: East and West. Dr. Lipski also wrote many essays on history and religion that were published in various journals. The text of his book on Sri Anandamayi Ma was incorporated into the illustrated book The Essential Sri Anandamayi Ma.

Alexis York Lumbard is a busy mother and a gifted author of children’s books. Her newest book for World Wisdom (through the Wisdom Tales imprint) is Pine and the Winter Sparrow, illustrated by Beatriz Vidal. It is a beautiful retelling (with beautiful illustrations, too!) of a Native American story about the generosity of a tree to a suffering bird. Angels, Lumbard's previous book, is a small, but very poetical and colorful book for small children. The award-winning Angels was illustrated by the well-known artist Flavia Weedn. Alexis York Lumbard’s first book, the award-winning The Conference of the Birds (also a Wisdom Tales book), retells an ancient classic in a poetic way that is accessible to children. The art found throughout the book comes from the well-known illustrator, Demi.

Joseph Lumbard is the founder of The Islamic Research Institute and is currently Assistant Professor of Classical Islam at Brandeis University. He is a specialist in Sufism and Islamic Philosophy, and has had numerous articles published in journals of traditionalism, comparative religion, and philosophy. In the wake of September 11, 2001, Dr. Lumbard founded the Islamic Research Institute (IRI) to provide a forum in which Muslim scholars are able to contextualize issues pertaining to Islam and apply the traditional teachings of Islam to the exigencies of modern life.

Rusmir Mahmutćehajić is a Bosnian academic, author, and former statesman. He served as the Vice President of Bosnia from 1991 to 1993 and for the past 12 years he has been the President of International Forum Bosnia. Considered one of Bosnia’s leading intellectuals and public figures, Dr. Mahmutćehajić is the foremost advocate of the idea of Bosnia as a community constituted out of diversity and founded on mutual respect between individuals and between ethnic and confessional groups. A profoundly insightful scholar of the Muslim intellectual tradition, considered as a branch of religio and philosophia perennis, he is widely recognized as a major contributor to contemporary Muslim thought and the liberal interpretation of Islam as the divine injunction of peaceful co-existence in love. Rusmir Mahmutćehajić is the author of 20 books and several hundred articles and essays which have been translated into multiple languages. Several of his works on traditional subjects including his recent books, Bosnia the Good: Tolerance and Tradition and Sarajevo Essays are available in English. He is also the author of the World Wisdom title, Maintaining the Sacred Center.

Elsa Marston is an award-winning author of over 20 teen and children’s books, specializing in the Middle East and North Africa, ancient and modern. She has a master’s degree in international affairs from Harvard University with further study at the American University of Beirut, and has lived in Egypt, Lebanon, and Tunisia with her husband, the late Professor Iliya Harik of Indiana University. In addition to her books with Wisdom Tales (The Compassionate Warrior and, forthcoming, The Olive Tree), her recent work includes Santa Claus in Baghdad and Other Stories About Teens in the Arab World, Women in the Middle East: Tradition and Change, The Byzantine Empire, and Muhammad of Mecca, a historical biography. She lives in Bloomington, Indiana.

Jean-Louis Michon was a traditionalist French scholar who specialized in Islam in North Africa, Islamic art, and Sufism. His works include Le Soufi marrocain Ahmad Ibn 'Ajiba and L'Autobiographie (Fahrasa) du Soufi marrocain Ahmad Ibn 'Ajiba (1747-1809). He wrote numerous articles appearing in several languages, and translated the Holy Koran into French.

Clinton Minnaar was born in Namibia (formerly South West Africa) in 1972. An early attraction to contemplative spirituality saw him travel to the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe in search of religious, cultural, and historical sites of interest. His encounters with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, coupled with a deep interest in Eastern religions, saw him complete undergraduate studies in Comparative Religion, Philosophy, and English. Further graduate studies included an MA on the Perennialist school of comparative religious thought, and a teaching degree with specialties in English and Religious Studies. For more than a decade he has combined these specialties in editing books on world religions for adults, teens, and children. Clinton Minnaar lives with his Argentinean wife in Bloomington, IN.

Timothy J. Myers is a writer of books for both children and adults. He has published over ten books for children. Tim has won a number of awards and honors for his work. Besides his work as a writer, Tim Myers is also an artist, a songwriter, and a storyteller, as well as an educator in English and education at the university level. For Wisdom Tales, Tim has written The Thunder Egg, a Native American story of a girl who discovers the egg of a thunderbird and later saves her people through her courage and self-sacrifice. The book is illustrated by Winfield Coleman.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr (b. 1933) is University Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University. The author of over thirty books and three hundred articles, he is one of the world’s most respected writers and speakers on Islam, its arts and sciences, and its traditional mystical path, Sufism.

Prof. Seyyed Hossein Nasr's work is found in the following selected World Wisdom books:

Sri A.R. Natarajan is the President of the Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning and the Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi Research Centre, Bangalore. He is also the Vice-President of the Ramana Kendra, Delhi. His earlier works are commentaries on Sat-Darshanam, Selections from Ramana Gita, and Upadesa Saram, covering the core of the Maharshi's Teachings. He is the author of Timeless in Time: Sri Ramana Maharshi .

Lord Northbourne, the 4th Baron Northbourne, was an agriculturist, educator, translator, and writer on both agriculture and comparative religion. He was educated at Oxford and was for many years Provost of Wye College in England. His first published writings were on "organic" farming (he introduced the term), and he later began to write on Traditionalist/Perennialist themes. A number of Lord Northbourne's essays appeared in the British journal, Studies in Comparative Religion, and were later included in his books Religion in the Modern World (1963) and Looking Back on Progress (1970).

Lord Northbourne's essential writings are collected in Of the Land and the Spirit. His other contributions to World Wisdom's books include:

Harry Oldmeadow was co-ordinator of Philosophy and Religious Studies at La Trobe University in Australia and author of the acclaimed Traditionalism: Religion in the Light of the Perennial Philosophy (2000), an authoritative introduction to the perspective of Perennialism. Prof. Oldmeadow's contributions to World Wisdom books & DVDs includes:

Marco Pallis was a widely respected author on Tibetan Buddhism and the Perennial Philosophy, but he was also a gifted musician, composer, mountaineer, and translator.

Pallis' book The Way and the Mountain came from his experiences traveling in the Eastern Himalaya region and with Tibetan Buddhism. Pallis also wrote many pieces for the important traditionalist journal Studies in Comparative Religion, some of which are included in his last publication, A Buddhist Spectrum . Marco Pallis' essays are included in the following World Wisdom books:

Mark Perry is an author and professional translator. Although of American parents, he was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1951 and raised in Switzerland close to Frithjof Schuon. He is the son of eminent American Perennialist author Whitall Perry. He is the author of the book On Awakening and Remembering (Fons Vitae, 2000). Perry is currently in the process of updating the translations of all of Frithjof Schuon’s books from the original French into the English language, and has also translated a large number of Schuon’s French and German letters. Perry has authored a book for World Wisdom, The Mystery of Individuality: Grandeur and Delusion of the Human Condition, that was published in 2012.

Alberto Vasconcellos Queiroz was born and raised in the Brazilian city of Santos, the largest seaport in Latin America. He studied psychology at the Pontifical Catholic University in São Paulo where he graduated as a professional psychologist. After graduating, he moved to the city of São José dos Campos, where he began his career working in industry. He soon turned to the public sector, initially as a psychologist in residential care units, and later as a municipal administrator. He is now an assistant to the Mayor’s Office, with special responsibility for educational projects.

Venkataraman Raghavan (1908-1979) was a Sanskrit scholar, a musicologist, and a composer specializing in Carnatic music. He was the secretary of the Music Academy, Madras, from 1944 until his death in 1979. He wrote several books on music and on aesthetics in Sanskrit literature. Dr. Raghavan has been called “one of the foremost scholars and enlightened custodians of Indian culture in general, and Sanskrit literature in particular,” and he is held in high renown for his efforts in preserving traditional Indian culture.

Shri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) was a famous Hindu saint of the late nineteenth century. He was renowned for his own detachment from material life, his dedication to Kali, his generosity towards his many disciples and students, and his many simple but profound spiritual teachings; Shri Ramakrishna's greatest renown, however, may be related to his unique facility to understand at a deeply personal level numerous spiritual paths beyond his own practice of Hinduism (e.g. a variety of Hindu paths, Buddhism, Chrisitianity, Islam, etc.). The remarkable story of his life and teachings is the subject of the book The Original Gospel of Rāmakrishna:
Based on M.’s English Text, Abridged (World Wisdom, 2011), a new edition of a classic book on this great Hindu spiritual figure.

Sri Swami "Papa" Ramdas was born Vittal Rao in the Kerala State of India in 1884. For relief from his outer circumstances, he began to chant "Ram," a name of God, which brought him great mental peace and joy. In 1931, after years of living on the road in faith, his devotees established Anandashram for him in Kanhangad, Kerala, where he lived with Mother Krishnabai, who also attained the universal vision of God. They worked to improve the living conditions of the local people, founding a school for the children, establishing a free medical clinic, and setting up a cooperative for weavers. Together, they did extensive tours in India, and a world tour in 1954-55, with the purpose of sharing a message of Universal Love and Service, Sri Swami Ramdas died in 1963. He is the subject of The Essential Swami Ramdas .

Heidi Rasch is an artist and illustrator of children’s books. Her first project for Wisdom Tales (the World Wisdom imprint for children) is Indian Boyhood: The True Story of a Sioux Upbringing, an illustrated version of the famous book by Charles Eastman Ohiyesa), edited for children by Michael O. Fitzgerald. Ms. Rasch's next book is Beautiful Peacemaker, another compilation of writings from Eastman (forthcoming).

Samdhong Rinpoche is the fifth reincarnation of that title in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He holds a Doctorate in Buddhist sciences from the University of Drepung in Tibet. In 1959, Rinpoche fled to India along with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In India he served as a teacher to monks in exile and was appointed director of the Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies. On July 29, 2001, Rinpoche was named Kalon Tripa, or Prime Minister of the Tibetan Exile Government, the first political leader to be directly elected by the people in exile. The World Wisdom book Samdhong Rinpoche Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World: Tibetan Buddhism and Today's World is a unique series of in-depth dialogues with him and which covers a broad range of topics, including how the world came to follow a destructive path of unprincipled pragmatism and compromise, and what we can do to remedy it.

Donovan Roebert is the founder and coordinator of the South African Friends of Tibet. Born in East London, South Africa, he is a painter whose works are sold internationally. A devoted practitioner of Mahayana Buddhism for over a decade, he has also written several religious and philosophical articles on reconciling new physics and the neurosciences with the subjective human religious experience. He lives in Broederstroom, South Africa. He is the editor of Samdhong Rinpoche Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World: Tibetan Buddhism and Today's World.

Marilyn Rouvelas is the author of several books for children. She is the co-author, with Father John Chryssavgis, of the Wisdom Tales book Saint Anthony the Great. The book, illustrated by Isabelle Brent, is an inspiring biography for children of an important figure (ca. 251–356) in early Christian history and one of the best known of the Desert Fathers and Mothers.

Peter Samsel is an independent scholar with wide-ranging interests in traditional metaphysics, symbolism, science, and art. Dr Samsel is the editor of the World Wisdom collection A Treasury of Sufi Wisdom: The Path of Unity. An additional contribution to World Wisdom books is his article, “A Unity with Distinctions: Parallels in the Thought of Gregory Palamas and Ibn al-Arabi,” which appears in the volume Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East, edited by James Cutsinger. Dr Samsel has authored articles and review essays in Parabola, Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies, and Sacred Web: A Journal of Tradition and Modernity. Dr Peter Samsel is also the author of an article on the Sufi metaphysics of Divine unity drawn from the Islamic testimony of faith, titled “The First Pillar of Islam.” It was selected by Parabola for their Parabola in the Classroom collection of scholarly articles for educators.

Leo Schaya was a writer in the Traditionalist/Perennialist school. He was particularly known for his writings on Jewish esoterism, with his book The Universal Meaning of the Kabbalah (1958) being one of the best known and often-quoted works in that field; however, he also was at home in the area of Sufi metaphysical interpretation. World Wisdom has published a collection of Schaya’s seminal work on his central theme, titled Universal Aspects of the Kabbalah and Judaism (2014), which includes some previously unpublished material.

Leo Schaya's essay "Creation, the Image of God" is one of the articles collected in the anthology Seeing God Everywhere: Essays on Nature and the Sacred . Another essay, "On the Name "Allah" is included in Sufism: Love and Wisdom . An online sample of his writing, the essay "The Eliatic Function" (about the esoteric function of the prophet Elijah), which appeared in the important traditionalist journal Studies in Comparative Religion, can be read if you click here.

Catherine Schuon’s interest in world religions and spirituality brought her into contact with Frithjof Schuon, the famous writer, whom she married in May 1949. She accompanied her husband on all of his travels and helped him to receive visits and answer correspondence from spiritual seekers who came to seek her husband’s counsel. Her work with her husband brought her into contact with people from diverse religions and from throughout the world. Gifted in languages, she also became fluent in English and conversant in Italian, in addition to the three languages of her youth: German, French and Spanish.

Frithjof Schuon (1907-1998) is best known as the foremost spokesman of the “Traditionalist” or “Perennialist” school and as a philosopher in the metaphysical current of Shankara and Plato. He wrote more than two dozen books on metaphysical, spiritual, artistic, and ethnic themes and was a regular contributor to journals on comparative religion in both Europe and America. Schuon’s writings have been consistently featured and reviewed in a wide range of scholarly and philosophical publications around the world, respected by both scholars and spiritual authorities. Besides his prose writings, Schuon was also a prolific poet (see a listing of Schuon's poetry books) and a gifted painter of images that always portrayed the beauty and power of the divine, and the nobility and virtue of primordial humanity.

Martha Seif Simpson is an author and children’s librarian. Her first children’s book, What NOT to Give Your Mom on Mother's Day, was released in 2013. Ms. Simpson’s first book with World Wisdom (through our children’s books imprint, Wisdom Tales Press) is The Dreidel That Wouldn’t Spin: A Toyshop Tale of Hanukkah. The story is a charming account of a toyshop owner who witnesses a bit of a miracle in his store and through it comes to appreciate the true meaning of Hanukkah. The story is set in an Eastern European city in the early twentieth century, and features beautiful images of that time and place by award-winning illustrator Durga Yael Bernhard.

Martha Seif Simpson is also very active in her professional work as a librarian, including her work on such books as Bringing Classes into the Public Library: A Handbook for Librarians (along with Lucretia I. Duwel) and Summer Reading Clubs: Complete Plans for 50 Theme-Based Library Programs. There is much more information about Martha on the Martha Seif Simpson author page on the Wisdom Tales Press website.

Co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America, naturalist, author, and painter Ernest Thompson Seton, was born in England in 1860. His stories and paintings of wildlife are standard works on nature study and wood lore for boys and girls that continue to be used today. Author of over 50 books, Mr. Seton's message that nature is a very good thing is more relevant than before today. He died in 1946.

Reza Shah-Kazemi is a Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London. Dr. Shah-Kazemi writes on a range of topics from metaphysics and doctrine to contemplation and prayer. He is the author of Paths to Transcendence: According to Shankara, Ibn Arabi, and Meister Eckhart, a look at of how three sages (a Hindu, a Muslim, and a Christian) approached the Transcendent Absolute. Dr. Shah-Kazemi's other contributions to World Wisdom projects include:

"The Metaphysics of Interfaith Dialogue: Sufi Perspectives on the Universality of the Quranic Message" in Paths to the Heart

Mahvash Shahegh is an author, educator, researcher, and translator. She wrote the Wisdom Tales book The Green Musician, which is illustrated by Claire Ewart. Dr. Shahegh translated and adapted The Green Musician from a major Persian epic poem, the Shahnameh (the “Book of Kings”). Mahvash Shahegh focused the story in the book on a small segment of the epic poem. She has managed to maintain the feel of a magical time and place long ago with vivid images of grand royal events, jealous opponents, magnificent gardens, enchanting music and the power of persistence. Among other accomplishments, Dr. Mahvash Shahegh has co-authored (with two of her colleagues) a Persian language book, and put out by IBEX Publishers, titled Learning Persian.

Arvind Sharma was born in Varanasi, India. He was the first Infinity Foundation Visiting Professor of Indic Studies at Harvard University and succeeded Wilfred Cantwell Smith to the Birks Chair of Comparative Religion at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He has published over fifty books and five hundred articles in the fields of comparative religion, Hinduism, Indian philosophy and ethics, and the role of women in religion.

Ramon Shiloh is an American author, illustrator, and storyteller. He partnered as an illustrator with author and storyteller Gerald Hausman to produce the Wisdom Tales book The Otter, the Spotted Frog & the Great Flood: A Creek Indian Story. The book is a mythical story based in America before humans existed on earth, with animal characters and a great flood that ends with the creation of First Man and First Woman in a very surprising way.

Angelus Silesius was born in Breslau, Poland in 1624. He published, in 1657, the two poetical works on which his fame rests; The Soul's Spiritual Delight and The Cherubic Wanderer. In 1661, he was ordained a priest and retired to the monastery of the Knights of the Cross in Breslau, where he died.

Lalita Sinha studied world literatures at Universiti Sains Malaysia, where she served as Senior Lecturer in Comparative Literature and Comparative Religion for more than three decades. Her previous book, The Other Salina: A. Samad Said’s Masterpiece in Translation (2006) has been highly commended by Malaysian National Laureates and the academic book publishers’ council of Malaysia. She currently lives in Penang, Malaysia.

Unveiling the Garden of Love is primarily based on her Ph.D research, which is an interpretation and comparison of mystical poems of the Hindu-Bhakti and Islamic-Sufi traditions based on the Traditionalist viewpoint

Mateus Soares de Azevedo is an author, translator, editor, and journalist from Minas Gerais, central Brazil. He is the author of a number of books and dozens of articles and essays dealing with the importance of traditional religion and spirituality in the contemporary world, some of them translated into English and Spanish. He has also translated a number of books by Guénon, Schuon, Lings, and other Perennialist figures into Portugese. His contributions to World Wisdom's books include:

Lilian Staveley (c. 1878-1928) was an Englishwoman of the late Victorian era who led the life of a seemingly “ordinary soul” of the time. It was only after her death that her husband, Brigadier General John Staveley, and others, learned that she had anonymously published three books. These books (The Prodigal Returns, The Romance of the Soul, and The Golden Fountain) contained autobiographical passages of a soul’s mystic and private journey back to God, and insights and advice accessible to all readers seeking more knowledge of how to deepen our individual relationships with the Divine. World Wisdom has published the following books containing Lilian Stavely's work:

The Golden Fountain, a short book of her personal spiritual counsel on how to draw near to God.

Gerhard Tersteegen was born in Moers, Germany in 1697. Not possessing the means to afford the tuition, Tersteegen was forced to enter commerce and practiced as a successful merchant until a formative meeting with a pietistic revivalist, Wilhelm Hoffman, decisively changed the spiritual trajectory of his life. Thereafter Tersteegen preferred the solitary life studying at home in cloister-like asceticism, and reading theological books. In 1728 he became an itinerant preacher in the Protestant Erweckungsbewegung (“Spiritual Awakening Movement”) in the Niederrhein region, and hosted home worship and prayer meetings. He soon became acknowledged as an authoritative lay theologian, pastor, and mystic of the Protestant pietism movement, and was especially revered for his saintly person. Beginning in 1729, he edited his famous work, Geistliches Blumengärtlein inniger Seelen (“Spiritual Flower Garden for Ardent Souls”), a collection of hymns, spiritual lyrics, and epigrams. Gerhard Tersteegen died at Mülheim, in Westphalia, Germany, in 1769.

Pauline Ts’o is an author, illustrator, photographer, and co-founder of Rhythm and Hues Studios, a computer animation and visual effects company. Ms. Ts’o has written and illustrated the Wisdom Tales book Whispers of the Wolf, which was published in October, 2015. It is a beautiful picture book set around 500 years ago among the Pueblo Indians of the desert Southwest. A heartwarming and atmospheric tale, it weaves together themes of community, tradition, self-esteem, and respect for all life, creating a realistic portrait of a culture that continues to exert a vibrant, living influence today in the Southwest.

Dr. Algis Uždavinys (1962-2010) was a senior research fellow at the Lithuanian State Institute of Culture, Philosophy, and Arts and an associate professor at the Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts in his native Lithuania. Prof. Uždavinys' work has been published in English, French, and Lithuanian. He translated the works of Frithjof Schuon, Ananda Coomaraswamy, and Plotinus into Russian and Lithuanian. Dr. Uždavinys’ work has regularly been featured in journals such as Sophia and Sacred Web.

Flavia Weedn is a prolific award-winning artist and illustrator. Flavia’s uplifting illustrations fill the pages of the new Wisdom Tales book Angels, written by Alexis York Lumbard. Flavia Weedn has written and illustrated 17 books including 10 for children and her lines of greeting cards, which have been translated into many different languages, are sent by over 18 million people each year. Flavia’s original paintings have sold the world over to fine art collectors and can be found in the Smithsonian Institute archives, the AT&T Collection, and numerous private exhibits.

Susunaga Weeraperuma was born in Sri Lanka and currently resides in France. He qualified as a librarian and worked in the British Library and the South Australian Parliamentary Library. Retiring early from his profession, Weeraperuma now devotes his time to spiritual practices, hatha yoga, gardening, and the writing of books. The most important of Weeraperuma’s works include: Major Religions of India, Bliss of Reality, Homage to Yogaswami, and Divine Messengers of Our Time. He is also the author of the The Essential Swami Ramdas .

William Wroth is a researcher, editor, writer, and curator who specializes in the Hispanic and Native American traditional arts and cultures of the Southwest and Mexico.

Dr. Wroth is senior editor for a new series of editions by World Wisdom of the works of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. The first in this series is a new edition of one of Coomaraswamy's most far-ranging books, Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought?. Wroth's careful attention to details has resulted in a new edition that is more accessible than ever to readers, with some new notes from the author himself, all of the passages in foreign languages now translated, a new editor's preface, and a new introduction by Roger Lipsey.

Wu Ching-hsiung, also known as John C. H. Wu, was an author, lawyer, juristic philosopher, educator, and prominent Catholic layman. He was president of the Special High Court at Shanghai, vice chairman of the Legislative Yuan's constitution drafting committee, founder of the T'ien Hsia Monthly, translator of the Psalms and the New Testament into Chinese, and served as Chinese minister to the Holy See (1947-48). Wu authored and translated numerous books and articles on many subjects including Religion, Philosophy and Law.

Medicine Man and Sundance Chief Thomas Yellowtail (1903-1993) was a pivotal figure in Crow tribal life and one of the most admired American Indian spiritual leaders of the last century. As a youth he lived in the presence of old warriors, hunters, and medicine men who knew the freedom and sacred ways of pre-reservation life. As the principal figure in the Crow-Shoshone Sun Dance religion during the last half of the 20th century, he was important in perpetuating the spiritual traditions of his Crow tribe.

Yellowtail's advice on following the ancient ways in the modern world has inspired many Indians, and many non-Indians as well. His words can be found in:

Dr. Mehrdad M. Zarandi has long had a keen interest in science and mathematics. This eventually resulted in his receiving a Doctoral degree in chemical engineering from the California Institute of Technology, where he has continued to work as a research scientist in aeronautics and biomedical engineering.

Through his studies, Dr. Zarandi encountered the writings of Perennialist authors, which led to an interest in the correspondences between metaphysical principles and their expression within cosmology and science. It is his extensive background in science and the consideration of its place in modern life and thought that has culminated in Dr. Zarandi's editing the World Wisdom anthology Science and the Myth of Progress .

Ira B. Zinman is a writer, filmmaker, and independent scholar who specializes in the Biblical and spiritual elements in Shakespeare’s Sonnets. He has taught and lectured extensively on Shakespeare, recently presenting papers on Shakespeare’s Sonnets at the Ohio Shakespeare Conference. Mr. Zinman's research on the Biblical influences upon Shakespeare's work has culminated in the Fall 2009 book Shakespeare’s Sonnets and the Bible: A Spiritual Interpretation with Christian Sources.